CHP Officer Shoots Alleged Hit and Run Suspect

A California Highway Patrol officer shot a suspect in a hit-and-run collision this afternoon on state Highway 24 in Oakland, in an incident that closed the eastbound Caldecott Tunnel at the height of rush hour, law enforcement officials said.

A downed motorcycle that caught fire was reported to the CHP at about 3:40 p.m. near the Claremont Avenue offramp in Oakland, the CHP said. That motorcycle was related to a shooting and police incident that occurred a short time later further down the highway in Orinda, CHP Officer Sam Morgan said.

Contra Costa County sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee said a CHP officer investigating a hit-and-run found a car that matched the suspected vehicle at about 4 p.m. on Wilder Road just off the highway. Officials have released few details, but Lee said that at some point in contacting the driver of that car the officer fired his gun at the driver, striking him in the torso.

The driver was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Lee said. Officials have not disclosed his condition. The motorcyclist was transported to a hospital but is expected to survive, according to the CHP.

Eastbound lanes of Highway 24 were closed for about two hours during the two investigations on each side of the Caldecott Tunnel, backing traffic up at the height of this evening’s rush hour. The CHP, the sheriff’s office and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office are jointly investigating the officer-involved shooting, Lee said.

Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to call the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office at (925) 646-2441.